Bird Sightings: May/June 2015

Seth Kellogg, Marjorie W. Rines, and Robert H. Stymeist

May started cold with a high of only 49º on May 1 and 50º on May 2. The mercury rose quickly to 84º on May 4, prompting a fallout of migrants throughout our area. The high in Boston reached 89º on May 10, and many inland areas topped 90º. Rainfall for May was just 1.22 inches, nearly three and a half inches below average. Good southwesterly winds were noted on May 9, 17, and 19.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker by Robert DeWire.

When a winterlike nor’easter occurred on June 28, the high for that day in Boston was only 59º, the coldest June record since 1995. Tornado warnings were forecast for Essex County, where a wind gust of 68 mph was recorded on Plum Island. The high temperature for June was 88º in Boston; rainfall totaled 5.01 inches, 3.68 inches above average.